Garment-protecting device.



WILLIAM J. REID, OF SGRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

GARMENT-PROTECTING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 22, 1908.

Application filed October 2, 1905. Serial No. 280,903.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM J. REID, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of the city of Scranton, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Garment-Protecting Devices, the principles of which are set forth in the following specification and accompanying drawlngs, which disclose the form of the invention which I now consider to be the best of the various forms in which the principles of the invention may be embodied.

This invention relates to improvements in garment protecting devices.

A particular object of the invention is to provide adequate means for securing garment protecting devices to the garments which they are designed to protect, and the invention consists in the embodiment in practical, new and useful means, of my conception of accomplishing that object.

The invention is cooperative with various garment protecting devices, but for the purpose of illustration herein, I have selected only two of such devices, 2'. 0., the ordinary dress-shield, and also a pocket therefor, such for example as that of my Patent No. 813,585. In the case either of the shield or its poclget, the device is placed inside the garment (such as corset-covers, chemises or shirt-waists) to protect from moisture those parts of the sleeve and garment body which lie beneath and in the vicinity of the armpit. When a dress-shield is used without a pocket therefor, it must be secured to the garment by pinning or stitching it through the surrounding or binding edge to those parts of the sleeve and garment body which lie beneath and in the vicinity of the armpit. The line of attachment can be at no other part of the shield than the binding edge, because at any other place the pins or stitches would pierce and destroy the utility of the inner waterproof part of the shield. But when the line of attachment is at the binding edge of the shield, the pins or stitches must pierce the body of the garment, defacing and seriously injuring it if it be of any delicate material. It is the problem presented by these two apparently irreconcilable difficulties, which is solved by the invention herein.

The situation will be better understood by a consideration of the drawings, of which- Figure 1 is a plan of a shield embodying the invention Fig. 2 is a partial plan of the same further illustrating the invention; Fig.

3 is a plan of a shield-pocket having the invention embodied therein; and Figs. 4 and 5 are partial plans of a shield embodying the invention in a modified but equivalent form.

The ordinary shield of Fig. 1 is used by placing it inside the garment so that its middle line L rests along the seam of the arm opening, the inner or larger flap S lying next the body of the wearer, and the outer or smaller flap S lying against the underside of the arm of the wearer. The appearance of Fig. 1 is that presented from a view-point underneath the shield when the latter is in place. The inner or larger flap S lies not only next the body of the wearer but between that body and the inner side of the garment body. The outer or smaller flap S lies not only underneath the arm of the wearer but. between that arm and the inner side of the garment sleeve.

It is obvious that in order to pin or stitch the shield to the garment, the pins or stitches mustpass through the shield. Since the in- .ner waterproof part is necessarily oo-extensive with the inner capacity of all commerclal shields, it is obvious that any stitching or pinning through the shield will also pass through the inner waterproof part, and it is a fact that that would destroy the waterproof character of the inner part. The only part of the shield through which stitches or pins can pass without destroying the inner waterproof part, is the binding edge N of the shield. For these reasons, manufacturers of shields frequently specifically direct, in advertisements accompanying the shields, that in attaching the shield to the garment the sewing be limited to the binding edge;

and they assume liability for damage to the garment caused by defective shields only when the attachment is made as thus specifically directed. It is obvious that this sewing or pinning of the shield through its binding edge N to the garment, will injure the garment material if that be of delicate fabric, as it frequently and usually is. These difficulties are solved in pursuance of this invention, by the apparently simple expedient of providing an attaching strip A, or two attaching strips A, B, as shown in F ig. 1. This strip or these strips are located on the under side of the shield, and when the shield is in use lie between the shield and the material of the garment body beneath and in the immediate vicinity of the arm-pit of the wearer. The strips follow the line of curvature of the line L between the inner (S) and outer (S) shield-flaps, and when the shield is in use, the strips follow the line of curvature of the seam of the garment where the sleeve is attached to the garment body; or, in case the garment is sleeveless, the strip or strips follow the line of curvature of the arm-opening of the garment.

The strips A, B may be pinned or sewed to the garment at or in the immediate vicinity of the line of curvature of the arm opening or sleeve seam, without the passage of any pins or stitches through the entire shield including the inner waterproof part, or through the garment body at a part which would be injured by the pins or stitches. Without the strip or strips, it is obviously impracticable for the shield to be so stitched to the garment, even if it be attempted to stitch to the garment only the under side of the shield independently of the inner waterproof part. It is impossible to do this by machine sewing, because the top of the shield is closed. lVhile it might be possible to pin that part of the shield to the garment body, that would not be convenient or desirable, the proof being that it has hitherto been customary to attach the shield to the garment through the binding edge of the shield only.

A convenient way of producing the attach ing strips A, B is shown in Fig. 1, wherein they consist simply of extensions of the shield flaps S and S, which, before being assembled to form the shield, are cut out to the proper shape to leave suflicient material for the attaching strips. When the strips are formed in this way, the line L (Fig. 1) shows no stitches, but simply indicates the line of separation between the parts S and S beyond the line of stitching. This line of stitching appears at \V (Fig. 2), where the strip A is upturned (hiding the strip B) to disclose the line of stitching-together of the parts S and S.

This invention is also extremely useful in cases in which pockets are used for the shields, the pocket serving not only to receive the shields, but to protect the delicate fabric of the'garment body from the outer covering of the shield which is usually of coarse material, and also to further protect the garment material from moisture in case of a defective waterproof shield-part. As shown in Fig. 3, wherein is shown a pocket having an opening 0 for the reception of the shield, the attaching strips A, B, may

be located as in Figs. 1 and 2, and may be formed 1n the same way if desired. The pocket may be secured to the garment without the use of attaching strips, as disclosed in such cases the ataching strips are desirable as a means for combining the completed pockets and the garments. A separate completed pocket, like the shield itself, cannot conveniently be attached to a garment, because it is closed at the lines Z and N (Fig. 3), thus preventing access to the interior for sewing to the garment. When the garment and pocket are combined by an original maker of both, the line Z or the line N is left unsewed until the operator sews to the garment, the edges of the parts P, P. But in pursuance of this invention, the attaching strips A, B provide a ready means of attachment in cases where the pocket has been independently assembled and completed by the sewing up at the lines Z and N.

The attaching strips A, B may be formed in other ways than that disclosed in Figs. 1, 2 and 3; for example, in the way shown in Figs. 4 and In this case, the strips, whether one or two he used, are separate from the shield or pocket material, and sewed thereto, as along the line W (Fig. 4) being of the same or different material, as desired. In Fig. 5 the lower strip A is moved up, hiding the strip B, and the line of stitching, leaving visible only the line L as the boundary line of the strip. In Figs. 4 and 5, the strips A, B may be preferably together of one piece, or they may each be constituted of a strip separate from the other and from the shield or pocket. The strips A, B of the pocket. of Fig. 3 may be formed in the same way as the strips of Figs. 4- and 5. In any case, the attaching strips A, B may be extended longitudinally, as shown in dotted lines at X in Figs. 4 and 5, in order to serve as an ornamental binding or finishing for the sleeveless arm-openings of corset-covers, etc.

In addition to the essential advantages of the invention hereinbefore specified, the invention is also useful in that it provides convenient means of attachment of garment protecting devices to garments, which means prevents crumpling of the protecting device, and causes it to conform precisely with the arm opening curvature of the garment, by permitting the garment protecting device to be attached to the garment, continuously along the line of curvature.

The word strip as used herein, is intended, when unqualified, toinclude all forms of the means of attachment, whether formed of a continuation of the material of the garment protecting device, or of a strip or tape separate therefrom, or in any other way.

The objects of this invention may be fully attained by the use of a single attaching strip A, as disclosed above, but the invention is not limited to the use of such single strip, because two may be used as the attaching means with equal advantage under certain conditions, and the claims are intended to include any such modified forms of the invention.

I claim:

1. An armpit protecting device comprising two separate flaps, each flap consisting of two pieces of material secured together at their lower edges, the two pieces of each flap being secured to the two pieces of the other flap at a line of curvature substantially corresponding with the curvature of the arm-opening of the garment and the material of at least one of the pieces forming the lower sides of both flaps being suiiiciently long to extend beyond the line of curvature of said two pieces, and extending downwardly from such pieces as an integral continuation of the material thereof to constitute a means for attaching the device to the corresponding line of curvature of the garment.

2. An armpit pocket for dress-shields, which comprises two separate flaps for the reception of the two flaps of the dress-shield, and a suitable opening to permit the insertion of the shield, the two flaps being joined at a line of curvature corresponding to the junction of the two flaps of the shield and the line of curvature of the arm-opening of the garment; each flap of the pocket consisting of an upper and lower piece joined together at their edges, and the material of at least one of the lower pieces being sufliciently long to extend beyond the common junction of the two lower pieces, and extending downwardly as an integral continuation of the material thereof to constitute a means for attaching the pocket to the corresponding line of curvature of the garment.

3. An armpit pocket for dress-shields, which comprises two separate flaps for the reception of the two flaps'of the dressshield, the two flaps of the pocket being joined together at a line of curvature corresponding substantially to the junction of the two flaps of the shield and to the line of curvature of the arm-opening of the garment; a suitable opening being formed in the pocket for the insertion of the dress-shield, in a part of the pocket other than at the lower junction of the two flaps of the pocket; each flap of the pocket consisting of an upper and lower piece oined together at their edges, and the material of at least one of the lower pieces being sufficiently long to extend beyond the common junction of the two lower pieces,

and extending downwardly as an integral the garment, and an attaching strip permanently incorporated with the device and extending downwardly from the curved junction of the flaps and between them, said strip being sutficiently long to extend freely beyond said line of curvature to constitute an ornamental binding or finishing for the sleeveless arm-opening of a garment.

5. An armpit pocket for dress-shields, which comprises two flaps for the reception of the respective flaps of the dress shield, the two flaps of the pocket each consisting of two pieces of material secured together at. their lower edges, and'one of said pieces of one flap being secured to one piece of the other flap at their upper edges and at a line of curvature substantially corresponding with the curvature of the contained shield and of the arm-opening of the garment to be protected; one flap of the pocket comprising a third piece of material completing one side of the flap and secured to the other piece of the other flap at their upper edges and at a line of curvature substantially corresponding with the curvature of the upper edge junction of the other two secured pieces of the respective pocket flaps; the two pieces forming one side of the three-piece flap being unconnected with each other so as to leave an opening in the pocket for the insertion of a dress-shield at a portion of the pocket other than at theupper edge junc tions of the flaps; and an attaching strip permanently incorporated with the pocket flaps and sufiiciently long to extend beyond the securing line of curvature of said two flaps, and extending downwardly from such flaps, to constitute a means for attaching the pocket to the seam of the arm-opening of the garment to be protected.

WILLIAM J. REID.

Witnesses:

M. M. MAGRAE, PHILIP FARNSWORTH. 

